© John Cheng
NEW YORK, N.Y., August 24, 2010– 2009 world all-around silver-medalist Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas, is one of 10 finalists for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year award. The winner, along with the Team of the Year recipient, will be announced at the 31st Annual Salute to Women in Sports awards gala on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Fans can vote online through Aug. 31 at WomensSportsFoundation.org.
An impressive list of elite athletes from 20 different sports is vying for the evening’s top honors – Sportswoman of the Year – Individual and Team awards. In addition to Bross, the individual finalists are: Torah Bright, snowboarding; Yu-Na Kim, figure skating; Kelly Kulick, bowling; Ai Miyazato, golf; Alana Nichols, paralympic skiing; Sanya Richards, track & field; Anna Tunnicliffe, sailing; Lindsey Vonn, skiing; and Serena Williams, tennis. The finalists for a team sport are: Meghan Agosta, ice hockey; Betsey Armstrong, water polo; Jennie Finch, woftball; Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Silva, beach volleyball; Megan Hodge, volleyball; Kallie Humphries & Heather Moyse, bobsled; Caitlyn McFadden, lacrosse; Katie O’Donnell, field hockey; Diana Taurasi, basketball; and Marta Vieira da Silva, soccer.
Athletes were considered for the 2010 ballot based on their athletic achievements between August 1, 2009, and July 31, 2010. Nominations for the Sportswoman of the Year – Individual and Team awards are made by sport governing bodies and the public. Sportswoman of the Year finalists will be voted on by Foundation membership and the public from August 24, through midnight EST on August 31, 2010.
Bross, who trains at WOGA, has had an exceptional 2010, following her silver-medal finish in the all-around at the 2009 World Championships. The 17-year-old began 2010 by winning the Tyson American Cup, the USA’s most prestigious international all-around invitational. At the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships, she won the all-around title, along with gold medals for the balance beam and floor exercise and the silver medal for the uneven bars. Bross also anchored the women’s team that won the team gold medal at the Pac Rim. At the CoverGirl Classic, the tune-up for the Visa Championships, Bross won the title for the uneven bars. Although the Visa Championships held in August 2010 fell outside of the award’s timeframe, Bross became the U.S. champion in the all-around, uneven bars and balance beam, in addition to finishing second in the floor exercise. She was recognized at the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Female Athlete of the Month for May 2010.
Past Sportswoman of the Year recipients include: Individual – Nastia Liukin (Gymnastics), Lorena Ochoa (golf), Erin Popovich (paralympic swimming), Michelle Kwan (figure skating), and Gail Devers (track and field); and team – Jessica Mendoza (softball), Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh (beach volleyball), Lisa Leslie (basketball), Serena & Venus Williams (tennis) and Mia Hamm (soccer).
The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1974, is the leader in promoting sports, health and education for girls and women. With Billie Jean King as its founder and ongoing visionary, The Women’s Sports Foundation continues to have a profound impact on female athletics, from its vigorous advocacy of Title IX legislation to providing grants and scholarships, grassroots programs for underserved girls, and groundbreaking research. An agent for change, the Women’s Sports Foundation has relationships with more than 1,000 of the world’s elite female athletes and is recognized globally for its leadership, vision, strength, expertise and influence. For more information, please call the Women’s Sports Foundation at 800.227.3988 or visit www.WomensSportsFoundation.org.